Trim (sewing)

Red fringe trim on a woman's dress c. 1870.
Elaborate gold metallic lace trim c. 1760–65.

Trim or trimming in clothing and home decorating is applied ornament, such as gimp, passementerie, ribbon, ruffles, or, as a verb, to apply such ornament.

Before the Industrial Revolution, all trim was made and applied by hand, thus making heavily trimmed furnishings and garments expensive and high-status. Machine-woven trims and sewing machines put these dense trimmings within the reach of even modest dressmakers and home sewers, and an abundance of trimming is a characteristic of mid-Victorian fashion.[1] As a predictable reaction, high fashion came to emphasize exquisiteness of cut and construction over denseness of trimming, and applied trim became a signifier of mass-produced clothing by the 1930s.[2] The iconic braid and gold button trim of the Chanel suit are a notable survival of trim in high fashion.[3]

In home decorating, the 1980s and 1990s saw a fashion for dense, elaborately layered trimmings on upholstered furniture and drapery.[4]

Today, most trimmings are commercially manufactured. Scalamandré is known for elaborate trim for home furnishings, and Wrights is a manufacturer of trim for home sewing and crafts. Conso is another leading manufacturer.[5]

See also

  • Bias tape – Strip of fabric cut on the bias
  • Braid – Structure of strands of flexible material
  • Buttons
  • Cord (sewing) – A trim made by twisting yarn strands together
  • Gimp (thread) – Narrow yarn of thread wrapped around a core
  • Lace – Openwork fabric, patterned with open holes in the work, made by machine or by hand
  • Passementerie – Elaborate braids and other trimmings
  • Piping (sewing) – Tubular strip of textile
  • Ribbon – Long and narrow band of material
  • Rickrack – Braided zigzag trim used in clothes or curtains
  • Ruffles – Strip of fabric, lace, or ribbon gathered on one edge and applied as trimming
  • Tassels

References

  1. ^ Tozer, Jane and Sarah Levitt, Fabric of Society: A Century of People and their Clothes 1770-1870, Laura Ashley Press, ISBN 0-9508913-0-4
  2. ^ Hawes, Elizabeth Fashion is Spinach, Random House, 1938
  3. ^ "Sewing Standards Reference". Retrieved 10 April 2014.
  4. ^ "Trims, Tassels & Cording | J&O Fabrics". www.jandofabrics.com. Retrieved 2018-02-05.
  5. ^ International Directory of Company Histories. Vol. 29. St. James. 1999.


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